Rights

by Tony Lawrence

One of the laments of the anti-casino folks concerns "rights". It's a vague concept - they have yet to say which of their rights they think are being disrespected here, but let's pretend for a moment that their cry has merit. We'll call it the "I have a right to get what I want" amendment, and perhaps it will someday actually be added to our Constitution.

While waiting for that, let's look at some real rights. We'll start with the rights of the Wampanoags: the Indian Gaming Act confirmed their right to build and operate a casino on their sovereign land. Of course there's more to it: it's not without restrictions and controls, but at the end of the day, if the Bureau of Indian Affairs allows this land to go into trust, the Wampanoags can operate at least Class II gambling here. That is a "right" - not one granted by our Constitution, but still legally enacted, and done so for moral reasons aimed at improving the lot of Indian tribes.

Of course the rest of us have a right visit that facility once they do open it. That would come under "pursuit of happiness", which, unlike "get what I want", is actually in the Constitution.

The reality of anti-casino efforts is that it's all about forcing their morality on the rest of us. Oh, sure, there are a few people on Precinct Street worried about their new neighbors, and there are a handful who really believe this will have negative economic impacts. But that's not the driving force behind the efforts. The root cause is, as a less than accomplished wordsmith recently phrased it in one of their forum posts, is "i just think gambing is wrong thats all" (sic).

That's it. It's not their mouthed concern for people with gambling addictions - that's more than offset by problems of unemployment, depression, alcoholism and suicide among American Indians and ignores that Connecticut casinos are a short drive away for those very same addicts. It's not their ridiculous claims about non-English speaking children crowding area schools. No, it's "i just think gambing is wrong thats all", and their supposed "right" to make everyone else agree.

The right to get what you want does not exist. The right to operate a casino on sovereign tribal land does exist, as does the right to patronize that business for the rest of us. The misplaced moral concerns of a small minority should not interfere with that.

* Tony is a regular contributor to OakPointCommunity.org .